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On June 7, 2021, GAC Media, a
Great American Family is an American
(now Cumulus Media Networks) to produce ''GAC Nights: Live from Nashville'', a syndicated country music radio show broadcast from GAC's Music Row studios and hosted by GAC personalities Suzanne Alexander, Storme Warren, and Nan Kelley.
In July 2008, Scripps Networks was spun off from the E. W. Scripps Company as Scripps Networks Interactive.
On October 1, 2013, the network unveiled a new logo inspired by the U.S. flag, dropping the "GAC" acronym in favor of using the "Great American Country" name in full. The network stated that it wanted to emphasize its expansion from a country music-oriented channel to one with a larger emphasis on "country" as referring to a "sense of place" and lifestyles (citing programming such as ''Celebrity Motor Homes'' and ''Farm Kings'' as examples). With the channel's rebranding, the daily music video show ''Daily Countdown'' was renamed ''Great American Playlist''. ''Top 20 Country Countdown'' continued to air (it was cancelled in December 2018), and the network still offered country music specials including ''Backstory'', ''Introducing'' and ''Origins''.
In March 2018, Discovery, Inc., Discovery Inc. acquired Scripps Networks Interactive.
cable television
Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broa ...
network. Owned by Great American Media
GAC Media, LLC, doing business as Great American Media, is a Fort Worth, Texas-based media company, and owner of the U.S. cable networks Great American Family and Great American Living.
History
The company was announced on June 7, 2021, throu ...
, it broadcasts family-oriented general entertainment programming, including television series and made-for-TV movies
A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...
.
It was originally established in 1995 by Jones Radio Network
Jones Radio Networks & Jones Media Group were branches of Jones International before being sold to Triton Media Group. JRN and JMN provide local radio stations with satellite-delivered formats. They also offer other services to local radio such ...
as Great American Country (GAC), a country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
channel
Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to:
Geography
* Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water.
Australia
* Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...
. GAC was later acquired by Scripps Networks
Katz Broadcasting, LLC, doing business as Scripps Networks, is an American specialized digital multicasting network media company and a subsidiary of E. W. Scripps Company. The company owns (as of 2022) nine television networks that each carry ...
and, in turn, Discovery Inc.
Discovery, Inc. was an American multinational mass media factual television conglomerate based in New York City. Established in 1985, the company operated a group of factual and lifestyle television brands, such as the namesake Discovery Cha ...
Under Scripps, GAC's format was widened to include lifestyle programming pertaining to the American Heartland
The heartland, when referring to a cultural region of the United States, is the central land area of the country, usually the Midwestern United States or the states that do not border the Atlantic or Pacific oceans, associated with mainstream ...
and the South
South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...
, but the network did continue carrying some country music-related programming for a period.
In June 2021, GAC was acquired by GAC Media—a new ownership group that includes former Crown Media
Hallmark Media (formerly Crown Media Holdings) is an American media production company with corporate headquarters located in Studio City, California, and is a subsidiary of Hallmark Cards.
Hallmark Media consists of Crown Media Productions and ...
CEO Bill Abbott and Hicks Equity Partners. On September 27, 2021, the network was relaunched as GAC Family, with a format mirroring Abbott's former employer Hallmark Channel
The Hallmark Channel is an American television channel owned by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., which in turn is owned by Hallmark Cards, Inc. The channel's programming is primarily targeted at families, and features a mix of television movies and ...
, and leveraging talent previously associated with that network. The previous country lifestyle format was moved to Ride TV—a second channel acquired by GAC Media–which was concurrently relaunched as the sister network GAC Living
Great American Living (formerly Ride TV and GAC Living) is an American cable television network. Owned by Great American Media, it primarily broadcasts programming devoted to the lifestyles of the American South.
Established in 2014, the networ ...
. Abbott later described the network as featuring a mix of secular
Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...
and "soft" faith-based programming.
As of February 2015, GAC was available to approximately 59 million television households (51% of pay television customers) in the United States.
History
As Great American Country
The channel was launched on December 31, 1995, with the first music video to be broadcast on the channel,Garth Brooks
Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American country music singer and songwriter. His integration of pop and rock elements into the country genre has earned him popularity, particularly in the United States with success on the co ...
' "The Thunder Rolls
"The Thunder Rolls" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Garth Brooks. It was released in April 1991 as the fourth and final single from his album ''No Fences''. The song became his sixth number one on the country cha ...
". The channel was originally owned by the Centennial, Colorado
Centennial is a home rule municipality located in Arapahoe County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,418 at the 2020 United States Census, making Centennial the 11th most populous municipality in Colorado. Centennial is a par ...
-based Jones Radio Network
Jones Radio Networks & Jones Media Group were branches of Jones International before being sold to Triton Media Group. JRN and JMN provide local radio stations with satellite-delivered formats. They also offer other services to local radio such ...
.
On October 12, 2004, Scripps Networks
Katz Broadcasting, LLC, doing business as Scripps Networks, is an American specialized digital multicasting network media company and a subsidiary of E. W. Scripps Company. The company owns (as of 2022) nine television networks that each carry ...
acquired Great American Country from Jones Radio Network.
In late 2005, television industry trade publication ''Broadcasting & Cable
''Broadcasting & Cable'' (or ''Broadcasting+Cable'') is a weekly telecommunications industry trade magazine published by Future US. Previous names included ''Broadcasting-Telecasting'', ''Broadcasting and Broadcast Advertising'', and ''Broadcast ...
'' named GAC as one of TV's "Breakout Networks", saying of the channel: "The emerging GAC is a younger, hipper version CMT.html"_;"title="CMT_(American_TV_channel).html"_;"title="f_CMT_(American_TV_channel)">CMT">CMT_(American_TV_channel).html"_;"title="f_CMT_(American_TV_channel)">CMTthat_respects_Nashville's_country_roads_but_widens_the_boulevards."
In_December_2007,_the_network_announced_a_partnership_with_Citadel_Media.html" "title="CMT_(American_TV_channel)">CMT.html" ;"title="CMT_(American_TV_channel).html" ;"title="f CMT (American TV channel)">CMT">CMT_(American_TV_channel).html" ;"title="f CMT (American TV channel)">CMTthat respects Nashville's country roads but widens the boulevards."
In December 2007, the network announced a partnership with Citadel Media">ABC Radio Networks ABC Radio may refer to:
Australia
* History of ABC Radio (Australia), the division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) responsible for:
** ABC Classic, a classical music radio station
** ABC Classic 2, an un-presented streaming-only c ...As GAC Family/Great American Family
On June 7, 2021, GAC Media, a Fort Worth
Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...
-based investment group led by private equity investor Tom Hicks
Thomas Ollis Hicks Sr. (born February 7, 1946), is an American private equity investor and sports team owner living in Dallas, Texas. ''Forbes'' magazine estimated Hicks' wealth at $1 billion in 2009, but it dropped to $700 million in 2010 ...
and former Crown Media Holdings
Hallmark Media (formerly Crown Media Holdings) is an American media production company with corporate headquarters located in Studio City, California, and is a subsidiary of Hallmark Cards.
Hallmark Media consists of Crown Media Productions ...
CEO Bill Abbott announced that it would acquire Great American Country from Discovery Inc.; the company had recently announced its intent to merge
Merge, merging, or merger may refer to:
Concepts
* Merge (traffic), the reduction of the number of lanes on a road
* Merge (linguistics), a basic syntactic operation in generative syntax in the Minimalist Program
* Merger (politics), the comb ...
with WarnerMedia
Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States.
It was originally established in 1972 by ...
. GAC Media would also acquire the equestrian network Ride TV. Abbott had abruptly stepped down from Crown Media in January 2020, shortly after Hallmark Channel
The Hallmark Channel is an American television channel owned by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., which in turn is owned by Hallmark Cards, Inc. The channel's programming is primarily targeted at families, and features a mix of television movies and ...
was criticized for pulling commercials from the wedding registry Zola Zola may refer to:
People
* Zola (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name
* Zola (musician) (born 1977), South African entertainer
* Zola (rapper), French rapper
* Émile Zola, a major nineteenth-century French writer
Plac ...
that included a lesbian
A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...
couple.
In August 2021, GAC Media announced that it would relaunch Great American Country as GAC Family on September 27, with the GAC initials re-backronym
A backronym is an acronym formed from an already existing word by expanding its letters into the words of a phrase. Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology. The ...
ed to stand for "Great American Channels"; The channel was repositioned as a family-oriented general entertainment service with similarities to Hallmark Channel, which Abbot had previously overseen as Crown Media CEO. The previous country lifestyle format was assumed by Ride TV, which concurrently rebranded as the sister channel GAC Living.
GAC Family would mirror many of the programming strategies that Abbott developed while overseeing Hallmark Channel, including original made-for-TV movies and holiday programming. In the months following its launch, GAC Media signed contracts with talent associated with Hallmark Channel productions, including Trevor Donovan
Trevor Donovan Neubauer (born October 11, 1978), known professionally as Trevor Donovan, is an American actor and model. He is best known for his role as Teddy Montgomery on the hit teen drama television series '' 90210.''
Life and career
Donova ...
, Jen Lilley, Jessica Lowndes
Jessica Lowndes (; born November 8, 1988) is a Canadian actress and singer. She is best known for her roles as Adrianna Tate-Duncan on The CW teen drama series '' 90210,'' appearing in several Hallmark Channel movies, and the 2020 Lifetime Chan ...
, Jesse Metcalfe
Jesse Eden Metcalfe (born December 9, 1978) is an American actor and musician. He is known for his portrayal of John Rowland on ''Desperate Housewives''. Metcalfe has also had notable roles on ''Passions'' and played the title role in '' John T ...
, and Danica McKellar
Danica Mae McKellar (born January 3, 1975) is an American actress, mathematics writer, and education advocate. She played Winnie Cooper in the television series ''The Wonder Years'' from 1988 to 1993, and since 2010 has voiced Miss Martian in th ...
, to appear in GAC Family original movies. Former ''Home & Family
''Home & Family'' (formerly ''The Home and Family Show'') is an American daytime talk show. The series originally premiered on April 1, 1996, on The Family Channel, and was dropped by the network immediately prior to its 1998 relaunch as the Fox ...
'' hosts Debbie Matenopoulos
Despina "Debbie" Matenopoulos (born December 13, 1974) is an American television host, journalist, and lifestyle expert.
Early life
Matenopoulos was born in Richmond, Virginia, of Greek ancestry. She is the daughter of Efrosini, a hair stylist ...
and Cameron Mathison
Cameron Arthur Mathison (born August 25, 1969) is a Canadians, Canadian-Americans, American actor and television host. From 1997 to 2011, he played the role of Ryan Lavery on ''All My Children''.
Early life and personal life
Mathison was born on ...
hosted a preview special for GAC Family's inaugural "Great American Christmas" film lineup.
On April 19, 2022, it was announced that GAC Media had hired Candace Cameron Bure—who had a long-standing relationship with Hallmark Channel dating back to 2008—as its chief content officer, and that she would develop, produce and star in original romantic comedies and holiday content for its networks.
During GAC Media's first upfronts
In the television industry, an upfront is a gathering at the start of important advertising sales periods, held by television network executives and attended by major advertisers and the media. It is so named because of its main purpose, to allow ...
presentation in April 2022, Abbott told ''Broadcasting & Cable
''Broadcasting & Cable'' (or ''Broadcasting+Cable'') is a weekly telecommunications industry trade magazine published by Future US. Previous names included ''Broadcasting-Telecasting'', ''Broadcasting and Broadcast Advertising'', and ''Broadcast ...
'' that the quick transition to GAC Family did not give them enough time to promote the channel to advertisers—many of whom had already made their advertising commitments for the fourth quarter—leaving it unable to fully capitalize from the Christmas holiday season in 2021. However, Abbott felt that the market would be "pretty strong" in 2022, and believed that the network was "certainly selling family-friendly content and quality original movies with talent that people love and resonate with viewers". He also revealed plans for new digital platforms, including a free ad-supported streaming service known as "Great American Adventure", and a "fan portal" that would allow users to interact with GAC talent.
In July 2022, GAC Media—which concurrently changed its trade name to Great American Media—announced that GAC Family would be slightly rebranded as Great American Family on August 20, 2022.
Programming
Great American Family is positioned as a family-oriented channel with original series and movies emphasizing "relationships and the emotional connections related to holidays, seasons and occasions", and programming reflecting "American culture, lifestyle and heritage". Abbott stated that the network planned to feature "soft faith" andsecular
Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...
programming, describing the market for faith-based programming as being "grossly underserved".
The network acquired season 2 of ''When Hope Calls
''When Hope Calls'' is an American drama television series. The series is a spin-off of Hallmark Channel's ''When Calls the Heart'', which is based on the ''Canadian West'' book series by Janette Oke. It premiered on August 30, 2019 as the inau ...
'', a spin-off of Hallmark Channel's ''When Calls the Heart
''When Calls the Heart'' is an American television drama series, inspired by Janette Oke's book of the same name from her ''Canadian West series'', and developed by Michael Landon Jr. The series began airing on the Hallmark Channel in the Unit ...
'' that originally aired on the network's streaming service Hallmark Movies Now
Hallmark Movies Now (formerly called Feeln and originally SpiritClips) is an on-demand streaming video service that offers family-friendly movies, documentaries and short films. The company was founded in 2007 by Academy Award-winning producer ...
. In February 2022, it acquired reruns of the ''Full House
''Full House'' is an American television sitcom created by Jeff Franklin for ABC. The show is about widowed father Danny Tanner who enlists his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis and childhood best friend Joey Gladstone to help raise his three dau ...
'' sequel series '' Fuller House'', which was originally produced for Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
. Following the cancellation of Hallmark Channel's annual ''Kitten Bowl'' special (a feline-centric parallel to Animal Planet
Animal Planet (stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American multinational pay television channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. First established on June 1, 1996, the network is primarily dev ...
's annual ''Puppy Bowl
The ''Puppy Bowl'' is an annual television program on Animal Planet that mimics an American football game similar to the Super Bowl, using puppies. Shown each year on Super Bowl Sunday, the show consists of footage of a batch of puppies at play ...
'' special, which airs on the day of the Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...
), the network announced that it would present a similar event known as the ''Great American Rescue Bowl'' in 2023, with host Beth Stern
Beth Ostrosky Stern (born July 15, 1972) is an American actress, author, model, and animal-rights activist.
Early life
Stern was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her mother, Judy (), is a former model and her father, Robert Ostrosky, is a ...
moving over to the new program.
Under its previous ownership, original programming included series such as ''Kimberly's Simply Southern'', a cooking show featuring Kimberly Schlapman (member of the country music group Little Big Town
Little Big Town is an American country music vocal group from Homewood, Alabama. Founded in 1998, the group has comprised the same four members since its founding: Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman (née Roads), Phillip Sweet, and Jimi Westbro ...
), ''Farm Kings
Farm Kings is a reality television show, which started in 2012 and is found on Great American Country channel. In the UK it airs on Food Network UK. The basis of the show is about the King family which consists of a divorced single mother and her ...
'', a reality show chronicling the King family of Freedom Farms; and ''Celebrity Motorhomes''. It also featured reruns of shows from former Scripps Networks Interactive sister networks that suited the network's format. From 2011 through 2013, GAC broadcast the National Finals Rodeo
The National Finals Rodeo (NFR) is the premier rodeo event by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). The NFR showcases the talents of the PRCA's top 15 money-winners in the season for each event.
The NFR is held each year in the fi ...
.
Carriage
On November 5, 2010,AT&T U-verse
U-verse TV is a DirecTV brand of IPTV service. Launched on June 26, 2006, U-verse included broadband Internet (now AT&T Internet or AT&T Fiber), VoIP, IP telephone (now AT&T Phone), and IPTV (U-verse TV) services in 48 states.
dropped Great American Country, and then-sister networks Food Network
Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ...
, Cooking Channel
Cooking Channel is an American basic cable channel owned by Food Network, a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (69%) and Nexstar Media Group (31%). The channel is a spin-off of Food Network, broadcasting p ...
, HGTV
HGTV (an initialism for Home & Garden Television) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The network primarily broadcasts reality programming related to home improvement and real estate. As of February 2015, appr ...
, and DIY Network
Magnolia Network is an American basic cable network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and Chip and Joanna Gaines. It broadcasts personality-based lifestyle programs related to topics such as home construction, Home renovation, renovation, and cuisi ...
, due to a carriage dispute
A carriage dispute is a disagreement over the right to "carry", that is, retransmit, a broadcaster's signal. Carriage disputes first occurred between broadcasters and cable companies and now include direct broadcast satellite and other multicha ...
over an increase in retransmission fees. Two days later the dispute was resolved.
In October 2021, GAC Media reached an agreement with over-the-top service Frndly TV
Frndly TV is an American streaming television service that offers live TV, on demand video and cloud-based DVR for over 40 live television networks. Frndly TV curates a channel lineup with a focus on being family-friendly, and includes U.S. netwo ...
.
In November 2021, Philo and GAC Media reached a deal to add GAC Living and GAC Family to the service beginning in early December 2021.
Controversies
Neal Bledsoe
Neal Bledsoe (born March 26, 1981) is a Canadian and American actor, writer, and filmmaker.
Early life
Bledsoe was born in Toronto, but grew up in Seattle, Washington. Both of his grandfathers served in the Air Force during World War II and his ...
, star of two Great American Family holiday movies - The Winter Palace and Christmas at the Drive-In, announced his intentions to step away from the network after Candace Cameron Bure, actress and creative officer at GAF made comments that were perceived as disparaging the LGBTQIA+ community. Bledsoe stated, "the thought that my work could be used to deliberately discriminate against anyone horrifies and infuriates me."
See also
*Up TV
UP TV (stylized as UPtv; formerly GMC TV and originally Gospel Music Channel) is an American basic cable television network that was founded to have a focus on gospel music. It has expanded into family-friendly original movies, series, and special ...
References
External links
* {{U.S. family-oriented television channels Mass media in Nashville, Tennessee Companies based in Nashville, Tennessee Conservative media in the United States Television channels and stations established in 1995 English-language television stations in the United States Former E. W. Scripps Company subsidiaries